Classroom
No phones, no laptops, unless you are explicitly told you can use them.
This is a challenging course, and distractions, for you and your neighbors, work against everyone. Devices put away means better focus and a better classroom for all.
Required Materials
No textbook purchase is required. All course materials, assignment instructions, reference readings, and supplementary resources, are available on this website.
You will need access to a laptop (any operating system) that can run a modern web browser. All development happens on Calvin’s Linux servers through Coder, so no local C++ toolchain is needed. See the Getting Started assignment for the full setup guide, complete it before your first class session.
Office Hours
The instructor does not keep fixed office hours. Book a slot whenever you need help, there is no minimum or maximum number of visits.
The same link is on the course home page. If no time on offer works for you, email me and we will find one.
Study Sessions
Calvin runs free, drop-in peer Study Sessions. The one for this course is Computer Science & Data 102, and it is the same room and time as the Tutoring Assistants:
| When | Mondays and Thursdays, 7:00–9:00 PM |
| Where | SB 337 |
No appointment, no sign-up. Bring whatever you are stuck on.
Other sessions run for Biology, Calculus, Chemistry, and Statistics on various evenings, all 7–9 PM. The full schedule is on Calvin’s Peer Support page, and questions go to studentsuccess@calvin.edu.
Library and Research Help
Most of what you need for this course is on this website or in the C++ documentation. But when you do need to find something — a reference, a paper, background for a reflection question — the library is there, and asking a librarian is faster than searching alone.
Katherine Swart Van Hof is the Computer Science department’s librarian at Hekman Library.
| Office | HL 327 |
| katherine.vanhof@calvin.edu | |
| Office hours | Tuesdays 10:00am–12:30pm · Fridays 1:30–4:00pm |
| Book a time | libcalendar.calvin.edu/appointments/kvanhof |
If Katherine is not available, another librarian can help you in person or online, including 24/7 chat: library.calvin.edu/research/help.
Worth knowing about:
- Subject research guides — starting points by discipline
- Hekman Library on YouTube — short how-to videos
- Wise Scholar — reflections on the virtues of scholarship
Attendance
Class attendance is required. Every session combines instruction, in-class practice, and daily quizzes. Missing a session means missing material that is difficult to recover on your own.
- Daily quizzes are administered in the first 5 minutes of class on Moodle. Do not show up late.
- If you are going to miss class due to physical or mental illness, please send an email before class starts.
- Extended absences (illness, family emergency, or other circumstances) should be discussed with the instructor as early as possible. There is no automatic excused-absence policy, but open communication goes a long way.
Disabilities
Calvin University is committed to providing equitable access to all students. Students with documented disabilities who wish to request accommodations should contact Disability Services. Students who have received an accommodation memo are encouraged to meet with me during the first two weeks of the semester to discuss how their accommodations will be implemented in this course. Students seeking reasonable modifications related to pregnancy or related conditions should contact the University’s Title IX Director, Jamie Klop, to learn more about available supports and accommodations.
Disability Services is in Student Success, Hiemenga Hall 227.
Statement of Diversity and Inclusion
Inside and outside of the classroom, I work to treat every person with equal respect, regardless of racial identity, gender identity, physicality, brain chemistry, nationality, political leanings, and religious background.
Whoever you are, you are fearfully and wonderfully made. God delights in diversity and so do I. We humans need diverse viewpoints because every viewpoint, on its own, has blind spots, and that has been proven true in technology-related fields, where under-represented minorities are significantly under-represented in the working world. When companies work hard to rectify this, they find their products and services improve. We have found the same to be true in Computer Science classrooms.
If you or someone else in this class is hurt by something I say or do, I would like to know about it so that we can work toward a remedy. This has happened in the past in my classroom, usually when I’m trying to be funny. If this happens this semester, please know that it was unintentional.
Because this kind of feedback can be uncomfortable for all involved, I’ll take it however it comes: in public or in private, on the spot or days later, directly from you or through another student, another professor, or my department chair Derek Schuurman (derek.schuurman@calvin.edu).